Questions About Your Experiences with Catherine Failor CS Recipes

[Clarice]

Hi I ordered the Failor "booklet" from The Sage and it arrived with 40 concise pages of instructions plus 5 recipes.

Over the weekend I made the Castor Oil version and the Jojoba version using my crock pot set on low. I made half-batches of both

Here is what I did:

Batch - Castor:

• Melted the oils / SA in microwave being careful not to overheat
• Added the glycerin to the oil/SA - and immediately saw the pattern where the G was poured, as it caused the SA to re-solidify. Stirred to re-melt.
• Mixed Na/K lye solution, added slowly to oil/SA/G, stirring all the while; got "applesauce" stage
• Per directions, allowed it to cook, covered for 10 minutes, achieved "taffy" stage
• cooked another 10, achieved "mashed potatoes" zap test negative
• Added final melted SA, used potato masher to incorporate
• placed in container, resting now

Batch - Jojoba

• Melted the oils / SA PLUS glycerin in microwave being careful not to overheat (had been unnerved by the G causing the SA to partially solidify in first batch so decided to add to oils/SA)
• Mixed Na/K lye solution, added slowly to oil/SA/G, stirring all the while; mixture very runny, but beautiful white creamy color
• Per directions, allowed it to cook, covered for 10 minutes, achieved "applesauce" stage
• cooked another 10, achieved "taffy" stage"
• Plus 10 minutes "mashed potatoes"; zap test negative
• Added final melted SA, used potato masher to incorporate
• placed in container, resting now

Here are my observations, and I am wondering if you could comment / share:

Unlike her "cooking over a water bath" method, both of these recipes finished in under 30 minutes versus her 2+ hours. If you use a crock pot, has this been your experience?

At the point where I zap tested negative both were a rather hard, waxy paste. I used a potato masher for the final stage, and when i mashed the mixture down, "ribbons" from the masher shape stood up in perfectly defined 3 - 4 inch columns. Is this normal? Has this been cooked too far / hard?

Failor describes how manufacturers add far more water than she uses, and cook the mixture for days to boil off the excess water. If I wanted a more fluid mixture at finish (negative zap test) could I add more water initially as well?

My crock pot is rather large - i think 6 quart - diameter at the bottom is about 8 inches i think. Is this too much surface area for cream soap?

Silly me, I did not take pictures, I will do so on my next batch.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

Clarice

 

[SoapySuds]

I have a science hot plate, no need for a water bath, it accurately holds temp.

My soap paste is thick, I could add water and cook it down more, but meh.

Ok, I’ve only done this couple of times, but I have never gotten the mashed potato stage, or I did but my mixture was so devoid of water it was like taffy for hours. I set the first one aside, never trust the internet (it was a bastardized version of failors recipe) put it in jars and a month later, the paste had this beautiful jelly like appearance, all translucent and glowing. Ok, it wasn’t literally glowing, but it looked like a perfect amber paste.

Chemistry principles. If you have x amount of an acid in a solution and y amount of a base salt reactive in another solution and the ratio is 1:2 for it to react and you have enough of each to react with each other, they will react creating a byproduct of water and a new compound plus heat. Heating up the solution speeds up the process. Cooling the solution slows the process. If you mix it really well and then leave it alone for a period of time, it will complete the reaction.

I rely on that information more than failors description as to what to look for, because she is not meticulous in describing all the factors to replicate her experiments. If she was, everyone would be able to replicate them with ease.

So relying on science and time, my paste turns out correct after shoving it in jars and letting it cure much like cold process. Cuz the reaction is still happening in the bars, that’s why there’s free lye in a super fat bar right away.

 

[Clarice]

Thank you so much. Where can a science hot plate be obtained?